The announcement by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a longtime critic of legalizing marijuana, caused confusion among banks about how to do business with marijuana growers, processors and distributors without running afoul of federal money laundering laws. About 400 banks and credit unions do business with the U.S. marijuana industry. Most are small institutions with

A new bill filed in the Washington State Senate is seeking to prohibit local marijuana businesses from using bitcoin. Under the proposed rule, businesses that work in the local marijuana industry would not be allowed to either pay for goods with digital currency or accept those kinds of payments from customers. The bill also includes

California State Treasurer John Chiang created a 16-member group made up of bankers, cannabis industry leaders and elected officials to work on definine the banking problem and crafting some solutions. “If you don’t create some type of resolution, we’re going to have massive issues in regards to public safety, in regards to money laundering, tax

Warren, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, said there are benefits to letting marijuana-based businesses move away from a cash-only model. “You make sure that people are really paying their taxes. You know that the money is not being diverted to some kind of criminal enterprise,” Warren said recently. “And it’s just a plain

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted on Thursday to allow banks to provide financial services to legal recreational and medical marijuana dispensaries, according to The Denver Post. “We’ve seen this all before,” Jeff Foster, a co-founder of JANE, an express ordering kiosk for cannabis retailers, told Business Insider. “I hope that some progress is being made.